Hospital bed



June 26, 1945- v w. A. HILLENBRAND 2,379,080

HOSPITAL BED Filed April s, 1945 3 sheets-sheet 1 l N l w Q3 Q June 26, 1945- w. A. HlLLEN-BRAND 2,379,080

HOSPITAL BED Filed April 3, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 26 1945. w. A. HILLENBRAND HOSPITAL BED 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 3, 1943 l Patented June Z6, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HSPITAL BED William A. Hillenbrand, Franklin County, Ind., I assignor to Hill-Rom Company, Inc., Batesville, Ind., a corporation oi Indiana Application April 3, 1943, Serial No. 481,717

4 Claims.

This invention relates to bed springs and is particularly concerned with a sectional spring of the hospital type in which means are provided for raising the head and foot sections of the spring to add to the comfort of the patient and to facilitate reading, eating and the like. The invention is primarily concerned with improved means for manipulating the sections of the spring for these purposes.

For many years hospital bed springs have been almost completely standardized inconstruction. The conventional type of spring, which is known in the trade as a Gatch spring, taking its name from the inventor of the structure, is operated by a screw and nut arrangement in which the entire weight of the portion of the spring being elevated and the patient resting on that portion of the spring is carried by the screw and nut. In this type oi structure, in order to provide even a reasonable degree of ease of operation it is necessary to have a large screw, a large nut and a very large crank to transmit the power necessary to provide the elevation. This is particularly true in the case of the head section of the bed. This section is conventionally longer than any of the other sections and bears a disproportionate amount of the patients weight.

For this reason the elevation of this section utilizing a screw and nut arrangement requires heavy, large and serviceable parts as well as a very decided amount of manual effort, particularly at the beginning of the elevating operation.

The use of these large and heavy parts is objectionable for reasons of economy of manufacture, and also for the reason that the large cranks which are required necessarilyextend a considerable distance beyond the foot of the bed and constitute an obstacle which frequently is bumped by nurses and other attendants, and visitors. Also these large cranks are unsightly. In order to overcome the objections to the use of large cranks, it has been proposed to provide a crank which telescopes or folds. While this is a theoretical solution, in practice the nurse and attendant seldom go tothe trouble of telescoping or folding the cranks and usually allow them to protrude from the end of the bed in cranking position.

In springs of the standard type the manipulation of even a large crank requires a very appreciable amount of physical effort, particularly in the case of a heavy patient or when. the mechanism has become slightly worn or rusted. Since the cranking is usually done by nurses of comparatively slight physical strength and they are frequently called on to manipulate scores of cranks in the course of a day, a considerable physicalstrain is imposed on the nurses engaged in these duties.y Y

Another objection to the conventional type of spring is that the` section next to the head section which will hereinafterbe called the head middle section remains stationary and horizontal to the ground at all times.- As a result, when the head section is elevated the patient tends to slide toward the foot of the bed. In order to counteract this tendency and keep the patient comfortableit is usually necessary to raise the foot section every time the head section is raised.

The spring of the present invention overcomes each lof these various objections. Utilizing a novel leverage arrangement, it is proposed to utilize the weight of the patient as a primary source of power in elevating the head portion of the spring. Although the construction of the invention utilizes a screw and crank mechanism as in the prior art, the weight 0f the patient rather than thev screw-is the primary lifting means and the screw mechanism performs only la secondary function in the operation. For this reason it is possible to provide much smaller and less obtrusive mechanical parts while the manual effort necessary to manipulate them is very much less than in the case of the present standard construction.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides for the tilting of one or more of the middle sections of the spring toward the head of the bed. This gives the patient a chairseat position which is innitely more comfortable than the rigid inclined position provided in structures in which the middle portions of the spring remain horizontal to the ground. The tilting and lowering of these middle sections also tends to overcome the tendency of the patient to slide toward the foot of the bed, and, accord ingly, it is unnecessary to raise the foot section simply toV overcome this tendency. As a practical matter, in springs of the type 'of the invention the raising of the foot section is comparatively a secondary function of the spring, whereas in the springs ofthe prior art the foot section is raised almost as much as the head section.

"Having in mind the accomplishment of the purposes described, the particular objects of the invention may be enumerated as follows:

One of the objects has been to provide a hospital bed spring which is so constructedthat the weight of the patient is utilized as a factor in the provision of the power means for elevating and depressing portions of the spring.

Another object has been to provide a spring in which the middlesections of the spring may be lowered and inclined toward the head of the bed thereby giving the patient a more 'comfortable position.

Anothr Qbll 1.1% bfen t @Ylflm @.119 tnlr ency of the patient te slip toward the foot of the bed upon the elevation of the head section Without utilizing the foot elevating means for this purpose.

Another object has been to provide a spring in which the mechanical parts are substantially smaller than has been possible heretoiore and one in which the physical eort necessary to manipulate the parts may be substantially less.

Another object has been the provision of a spring in which the operating parts such as the crank handle may be smaller, less obtrusive, elle lese lllleiellily, arid ill Wlllell e meter-iai. Serf illeirl milllflieillrlng eee'l is @brained dile te ille redlleiiell. ill Sire b f illee. eleilierlte erle beller factors.

Oiller .elle .fllliller ebieeiie edvarliegee will be apparent from. ilie Lfurther erleilllere deilliled eleeeriiliibll 0f ille. irlverlilell Wliell eerl- Sidered irl eiellilllleiierl lriill. ille .fllewiliee irl wllieh= Fiebre 1 le. e een plan. view ef. e .Serine illlle: treillis e Preferred ellrlbeelilllelli ef ille i v'ellilell lllielllre 2 is e Seeiieilel View ellbrle ille llrle 212, Fisllrellisllre 3 is eeeiieilel View elena ille lille 3:3., Fiellre l, 'Sliewirle ille leiei Seeiielie' er ille .Serine illeleveied beeiiierl.,

"'llre 4 is. e eeetibrlel. View illlilelr ib Fiebre .2. ,E tile. 1116?@ SQOEQ @lie-.Slillg @lvfl iler. ell' erle tlleillidslle seebielle irl llllelillerl beeition. v f MAFlellre 5 is el eeeiierlel View similar te. rieure .il illlletraiilrle e, meliifled. ferm ei ille eelleirileiieri of the invention.

Figure 6 is a sectional view similar to Figure 4 illustrating the same modification with th'head section of the spring elevated and the middle sections inclined.

Figure '7 is an enlarged sectional view showing the details of construction of the crank, screw, and nut mechanism shown in Figures 2, 4, 5 and 6.

Describing the invention in detail, a lower spring frame is indicated generally at I0. This frame is .conventional in construction and comprises side rails II and end rails I2.A A spring web I3 of conventional construction is anixed to the side and end rails of each of the various upper sections which comprise the spring of the invention. A number of lateral braces Ill4 are extended across the sections and secured to the side rails. These braces may have flattened ends as shown and are bowed downwardly so as not to interfere with the flexing of the spring web 3..

The sections of the upper spring assembly which embrace the invention rest generally on the frame and may bev four in number. From the foot to the head of the bed these sections have been designated as the foot section I5, the foot middle section I6, the head middle section I'l and the head section I8. In the preferred embodiment, illese sections @rejoined together, and supornng @he prlls web It, comprise the structure on which the patient rests.

Tlle feel. eeilerl l5.. .eelrlprlees siderails. la and en enel rail 2l Elsielleliilg; beneath ille Side alle elle rails if ille. ieeleeeiieil ill-shared rail member 20. formed along each of its sides. Legs 23 are secured to the sides of the U-shaped member by the bolts 24. At the lower end of these legs are rollers 25 journaled on the pins 26. The rollers rest on the top of the side rails II of the lower frame. The entire foot section is pivoted on the pins 21, and, if desired, it may be inclined upwardly es .ebeivn in slet-.derb lir'les, Figure 2, and supported in elevated position by the prop 28 lwhich may be engaged selectively With the various Vnotches in the rack. This positioning of the foot section is accomplished manually and is intended for use only when for some reason it is desirable to elevate the feet of the patient.

The pin OZ-'I also serves to join the foot section to. the foot middle section I6 of the spring. In this latter section the side rails are designated 2g. These side rail sections 29 are pivotally connected to side rail sections 3 0 of the head middle section I'I by means of pins 3I pass through the rail sections 2Q the upper erlds ef' erlgle breek-ete 3? Wllieb irl illrn are .Seellrely llliedy ie. l'eil eeeiiblle 3,0.- Tbe rail Seebierls 29. :ere illlls vfree ie Direi llbwerellr ee Shewrl .ill Figure Rail members 3.3 nlilmedlt? the Plan? 0f the bottom side rails II and the plane o f the upper .rell Seeiielle 29 elld. 3Q ere .Seelllely lreel ie the beiielll. bbriierl ef allele breekeis 3l ariel vSilrlililr .allele breelreie 34 by el rivets er like-ies: ielllllg. .rebelle 35... The brackets. 3.4, are fixed te ille. lerwllrrl elles Q f. the. rail Seetiells 3.0 as et 36- le Sllbwll. lli. Fielll'e. l, allele brackets 32 lllld 34.

eriellel lrlwelfllr frolla, ille` .Side rails to .eliminate elly lllieriererlee beiweell fell members 3.3 erld lillelewer eide .rails IL.

Seeiierle. 3.1 are rigidly seellred te ill-e feet elle el ille .rail members i3 by lrleerls 0f riveis el.' ille like 3ft These erm Seelierls. 31 ere lbeselr journaled on a shaft 39. which extends laterally eerbes ille bed alle llas, rollers 40 en eeeh erle liberen? elleeeerl .ellarlrlel .Seetiells 4l fired be alle .ellbillerted by feet 42 wllieh ere fixed te the lewer Sfide rails. .Il- At the lerwerd er heb@ elle el ille reil member 33. e vertieel erm 43. fired tberetb is. biveielly eerllleeied ib elle elld bf eil' arm Q4, by means ofv pin 45. 'I he arm 44. is ied eil iiS eiller elle i0 .reels Shaft 4B supported. by tlllllll-QDS 51 @..Xl tothe IQWCI Sill@ Tails. .A150 rigidly :eeellred te the leek ebelt 4.5 es by weld- .ille elle lille beeld. eleveiilie arms 4.8. i0 which rellers 4Q, are pinned as at 5,0, The rollers 49 are adapted to. engage the lower surface of the side rails SKI. of the head section Ig. The side rails 5 ,I or this section are pivotally connected to the side rails, 311 Qf the head middle section II by means of pins 52. Vertical supports 53 are se- Quiid. l?? the llllde Surfae Qf the Side Tails 5| near their front endsand the lower ends of these SUPPQS fest Qn. thev Uppfl Surfliis 0f the Sidi? relils .Il Wllerl ille. beeld eeiibrl iS irl ille eesilierl ellewll. Flellre 2- Frein ibisy deeeribiiell, ii will be noted. thai e Weiebi. erbreesllre eb. lied i0 bilelleeli lrlldlllle s eeiierl ll ef 'ille .Sblille indieeted by the. elrelv in Figure 2 will elevate the head section and drop ille irl?A .middle eeeliblle es -sllbwrl irl .Fiebre 4- "lllle Welglli Pressure .is irenerrlitied ie elle arme 44. rem tile bead middle. Seeiiell. ll bv merrie ef: ille allele breelsete l? and 34 reil irlelrlbers 3?. and lille veriieel arles. 43.-. The erlels. 0fv ille le beirle Plreielllr eerllleeied te verbieel erirls. @are tiered. liewllwerrllr. reelrllle ille Sheri This rail member has racks 22 46 which in turn swings the head elevating arms 48 upwardly to raise the head section I8.

When a patient is placed on the bed the seat and thigh sections, which comprise a very substantial proportion of the patients weight, are positioned on the two middle sections IE and IT, and through the leverage arrangement just described counterbalance the head section I 8 and the weight disposed thereon. However, a very slight shifting of weight by the patient will tend to raise the head section and drop the middle section without aid of an attendant, or with very little eifort an attendant can raise the head section manually. As the head section is being raised the patients Weight is increasingly concentrated on the middle sections. When in a sitting position the weight is almost entirely concentrated on the middle sections and the head section will remain in elevated position without additiona1 support. r

However, it would be impractical to have the head section free to be elevated by a mere shifting of Weight by the patient as this could occur accidentally while the patient is sleeping or while changing his position in bed. The elevation of the head section is therefore controlled through the tubular link 54 which is pivotally attached to an arm 55 by means of a pin 56. The arm 55 is securely attached, as by welding, to the rock shaft 46. A rod 51 passes through an opening 58 in the lower foot end rail I2 and has a screw threaded section 59 which engages a nut $0 xed in the end of the tubular link 54 (Figure 7). The rod 51 is supportedin position by collars 5I pinned to the rod on each end of a journal block 52 which in turn is supported by brackets 63 xed to the underside of the lower end rail l 2. Pins 64 eX- tending outwardly from each side of the block 62 are rotatably journaled in apertures in the brackets 63. The rod 5l' is actuated by the crank handle 65 at the rear end thereof.

In elevating the head portion of the spring the crank handle is turned and the tubular link 54 is moved forwardly by the engagement between the screw threaded portion 59 of the rod and the nut 60. lI'his forward movement of the link rocks the shaft 45 which in turn raises the elevatinIr arms 48 thereby forcing the entire head section upwardly in the manner illustrated in Figure 4. As the head section moves upwardly the rail section 33 is pivoted downwardly on the shaft 39, by the arms 43 and 44. Thus the same action occurs as when the operation is performed solely by the shifting of weight` by the patient or the manual raising of the head section by an attendant. However, the screw, crank, nut and tubular link mechanism just described holds the head section I8 rigidly in any desired position, and the operation of this mechanism requires very little physical effort on the part of an attendant as the patients Weight through the leverage arrangement counterbalances the power required to lift the head section. Even in the most extreme caseof a very heavy patient and a nurse of very slight physical strength the head raising operation is very easily accomplished as the excessive weight serves to aid in the raising operation.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures l, 2 and 4 the joint between the rail sections 5I and 30 may eventually contact the top surface of the lower side rails II as at 66 to act as a stop on the upward movement of the head section. However, various other forms of stop means may be provided. The degree of angulation formed by the head section I8 and head middle section I 1 at the conclusion of the head raising operation 7 may be adjusted in a number of ways. By varying the length or position of rail members 33, arms 43 and 44, rock shaft 46 or by various other means this adjustment can be accomplished. The arm 43 may be omitted entirely and the arm 44 xed to the rock shaft 46 may be pivotally connected directly to the rail element 33. This form of construction is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. In the form illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 4, as the rail elements 33 and the arms 44 are swung downwardly the four top sections I 5, I6, Il and I8 rst creep toward the foot of the bed and then toward the head. As the arms 44 approach a position parallel to the bottom rails I I the top sections creep toward the foot, but as these arms continue swinging downwardly and pass a position parallel to the rails II, the top spring sectionscreep toward the head. This is due to the fact that the distance between the rock shaft 46 and shaft 39 is rst increased until as the arms 44 pass a position parallel to the rails I I the distance between these shafts is decreased, the shaft 39'being drawn toward the rock shaft 46. This creeping movement is transmitted to the top spring sections by the rail elements 33 and the angle brackets 32 and 34 joining the rail elements 33 and the top spring sections. When the arm 43 is omitted as in Figures 5 and 6 and the arms 44 are parallel to the rails II at the start of the head raising operation, the top sections creep only in one direction, toward the head of the bed.

` To accommodate this creeping action the foot elevating shaft 39 carries rollers 43 on the ends thereof which rotatably engage in channel sections 4I xed to the side rails I I by means of feet 42. Accordingly, the shaft 33 travels in a plane which always is parallel to the plane of the lower side rails I I as the top sections creep either backward or forward.

The arms 6l having their upper ends loosely engaged about the shaft 39 have their lower ends fixed to a cross support rail member 68 by means of angle brackets 69 xed to the rail member 68 as at 10. 'I'hese angle brackets 69, the arms 61 and support brackets 'II may be bolted together as shown at l2. Support brackets 'II extend outwardly from the arms 6l and are slidably engaged over the top surface of the lower side rails I I. The sections of these brackets overlying the side rails II are shown at I4 in Figure l. This construction further facilitates the creeping of the spring sections.

The elevation of the foot and foot middle sections of the spring is best illustrated in Figure 3. As shown, a rod 'I5 is inserted through a tube 16. This rod is actuated by the crank handle 'I1 and is supported under the lower end rail I2 of the foot section of the spring by collars 'I8 in exactly the same manner as is the rod 51 of the head elevating mechanism. At its forward end, the tube 'I5 is connected to a rod I9 by a universal joint 80. The rod 'I3 is supported by a journal block 8l and is held in place by collars 32 pinned to the rod on each end of the block. The block BI is rotatably journaled between brackets 83 xed to the cross support rail member 68. Pins 84 extend outwardly from each side of the block to engage apertures in the brackets. The forward end of the rod 'I9 is screw threaded and engaged by a nut 85 rotatably fixed between arms 86. The arms 86 are rigidly xed as by welding to the shaft 39. The foot elevating arms 8l may be similarly xed to the shaft 39 toward the ends thereof and carry rollers at their upper ends engaging the lower surfaces of the rail sections 29 of the foot middle section adjacent the joint between the foot section I5v and the foot middle section IB.

The end of the tube 16 adjacent the handle 11 is slotted as at 88. A pin or screw 89 is inserted through the slot 88 and xed in the rod 15. As the crank handle 11 is actuated the pin or screw 89 engages the walls of the slot and transmits the motion to the tube 16. The screw threaded rod 19 is actuated from the tube 18 through the universal joint drawing the nut 85 and arms 86 toward the foot end of the bed thereby rocking the shaft 39 and swinging the foot elevating arms 81 upwardly toward the head section and raising the foot middle section I6 and the foot section l5 to the position shown in Figure 3. A collar stop 95 is pinned to the forward end of the screw threaded rod 19.

Since the top sections of the spring creep backward and forward as the head section is being elevated, the foot elevating mechanism must move or creep with it to keep the parts in proper operative alignment with the foot and foot middle sections I5 and I6. As described previously the shaft 39 moves in a plane parallel to the plane of the bottom side rails II when the head is elevated. Since the foot elevating arms 81 are rigidly fixed to this shaft and arms B1 carrying the foot elevating mechanism are loosely engaged about, the shaft 39, the arms 81 and the foot elevating mechanism move or creep along with the top sections. As this mechanism creeps, the tube 16 slidably engaged about the shaft 15 is free to move or slide in both directions while still maintaining an operative connection with the crank carrying shaft through engagement of the pin or screw 89 with the Walls of the slot 88.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figures 5 and 6, creeping of the head and middle sections of the spring is entirely eliminated. The rail members 33 are slotted as at 98. The pins Sl carried by the arms 44 are loosely engaged in these slots and as the arms 44 swing downwardly the pins ride in the slot and the movement terminates when the pins reachv the ends of the'slots.

In this modified form theffoot elevating shaft 39 is supported by trunnions 92`ilxed to the lower side rails II. As shown in dot-dash lines, the

foot elevating mechanism may be identical with i the head elevating mechanism. A tubular link S3 is pivotally pinned to an arm 94 which is fixed rigidly to the shaft 39.. As the shaft is rocked and the elevating arm 81 moves forward the tiltingof the foot middle section elevates the foot i sections in opposite directions to form atrough therefrom, comprising a ro'ck shaft disposedy beneath one section adjacent its inner end, arms secured to said shaft and arranged in V conguration, one of said arms engaging the outer end of an end section of the spring and the other of said arms .being connected to a sectioncontignous to the end section, whereby upon rocking of the shaft the outer end of the end' section is elevated and the inner end of the end section and the adjoining end of the contiguous section are depressed and means for rocking said shaft.

2. In a hospital bed spring, a plurality of frame sections pivotally interconnected in end to end relationship for hinging movements with respect to one another, a rock shaft disposed beneath one of the sections and extending laterally of the frame, arms extending from said rock' shaft in V relationship to one another, one of said arms engaging the outer end of an end frame section and the other being pivotally connected with a section contiguous to said end section whereby rocking movement of the shaft effects elevation of the outer end of said end' section and depression of the contiguous section and the adjoining end of the end section, and screw means for rocking said rock shaft.

3. In a hospital bed spring a plurality of frame sections arranged longitudinally, said sections including a head section and a middle section pivotally connected thereto, a, rock shaft disposed beneath the head section and extending laterally of the frame, arms pinned to the rock'shaft and arranged in Y configuration, one of said arms engaging the outer end of the head section, one engaging the middle section and one extending downwardly, a tubular link extending longitudinally of the frame and secured to said downwardly extending arm and means for moving said link longitudinally for rocking the shaft and tilting the head section of the frame.

4. In a hospital bed, a frame, a plurality of panel sections arranged in end to end relationship above said frame, including a head panel section and a middle panel section pivotally connected thereto, a rock shaft supportedv by said frame beneath said head panel section, pairs of arms arranged in V configuration extending from said rock shaft at opposite sides of said frame, one of the: arms of each pair engaging the outer end of the head panel and the other of the arms of each pair engaging the middle panel at points adjacent the head panel whereby'the outer end of said head panel is elevated and the end of the middle panel adjacent the head panel is depressed and moved toward the head panel upon rotation ofthe rock shaft, and means for rotating said rock shaftcomprising another arm extending downwardly therefrom, a tubular ring supported from said frame and secured to said downwardly extending arm, and screw means for moving said ring longitudinally of said frame.

WILLIAM A. HILLENBRAND. 

